


the girl and the golem

by LightningRooks



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Agender Character, Gen, agender aurora, also me: how about we just rewrite al?, me: I SAID A ONESHOT, me: im gonna write a one shot, so yeah a rewrite of azran legacy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-15 21:50:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8073988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningRooks/pseuds/LightningRooks
Summary: there's a golem, trapped in ice.there's a girl, trapped in a terrorist organization.maybe they can help save each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> buckle up fuckers, where we're going, we don't need canon

it was cold. that thought was the first that the golem thought when they gained some sort of consciousness. they weren’t fully awake yet, nor were they free, but they sensed something outside of their ice prison. a human, perhaps?

yes, it did turn out to be a human. the human was alone, it seemed, and as they set up a small camp not far from the golem’s prison, the golem began to gently probe their mind. not enough to violate their privacy, but enough to pick up on their language, their culture, and what a human looked like now. 

the human frequently thought about a child (his daughter, the golem figured out later on, was the person the human was thinking about) very frequently, and it was this image that the golem modeled themself after.

it happened slowly. the golem’s hair grew longer and thicker, the features of their face changed just slightly, and the golem learned, just a little bit, about gender. the child that the golem now resembled was girl, and the human just outside of their ice was a man, and when the golem was finally free, many people would call them a girl as well. 

the golem wasn’t sure how to feel about that. they supposed they would have to deal with that when it came up. 

for now, they focused on the human outside their prison. he seemed sad somehow, especially when he looked at them. sometimes he would just stare at the golem for hours, and say things about how he’d avenge them, he’d avenge her.

who was he talking about? the golem? or the girl that the golem now resembled? there was no way to be sure, but the golem kept this knowledge for later, in case it became useful later.

some days he’d just talk and talk, and the golem was convinced that this man had no one else he could talk to- perhaps he had no one at all, since he’d been alone for days. 

he spoke of parents stolen,

of brothers sent far away,

of names and families,

of small moments of happiness, 

of new love and life,

and finally, of death and a hunger for revenge.

the golem didn’t put it all together then, and only after he revealed himself to be jean descole would they understand that what the man had spoken of was his life, and if they had had a heart it would have gone out to him.

once other humans joined him, however, he stopped looking so melancholy, and he stopped talking to the golem in ice. granted, very soon after they four humans freed them, but his sudden change in mood seemed...odd. 

the golem wondered if all humans were so sad when they were alone. they couldn’t remember much of their life before the ice, but they knew that they were the azran emissary, whatever that meant.

then, all the humans gathered in front of the golem, and began working on the mechanism that kept the golem encased in ice. it was a tall human with a funny looking hat that finally freed the golem, and when the ice started shifting, the golem fell back into total unconsciousness. 

when at last the golem awoke, there was fighting and violence and the golem thought “this is not what i wanted to wake up to, this is just the same as when i fell asleep.” 

the golem took the path that would stop the violence, and though they were scared, they went with the humans with weapons. they left the sad, strange human without a second thought. but the human and his companions did not give up that easily, and the airship that the bad humans had taken her on began to speed up and lurch unexpectedly. 

“anne-marie!” the leader of the humans snapped as they entered the hub of the ship, “watch the girl.” 

an average sized girl with chestnut hair that was put up in a bun and small eyes that looked just a bit larger because of her glasses. the most striking thing about her, however, was that she was the girl the golem had modeled themself after. they froze, staring at the girl.

“where did you pick her up? rip another girl from her family, grandfather? is this your other granddaughter?” the girl- anne-marie - said, sneering at the older man. the man did not even look back at her.

the golem grabbed her hands suddenly, seized by the urge to make this anne-marie understand that they knew the sad man that loved her. anne-marie turned to the golem sharply, fear in her eyes at the golem’s strong grip.

the golem opened their mouth, trying to find the right words, in the right language, until they finally spoke. 

“i know him,” the golem whispered, voice hoarse from millions of years of disuse. “he spoke of you frequently, when no one else was there. he was the one to find me.”

the girl’s tiny eyes widened, and she focused all her attention to the golem. “you mean my father? do you know my father?” 

the golem shook their head. “i don’t know the word for it, but he loves you very much.”

“it has to be him,” the girl whispered. “it has to be my father. can you take me to him?”

“i..i don’t know. i can take back to where i last saw him, i think,” the golem replied.

“that’s good enough for me. i’ll think of a way to get us out-”

the girl was interrupted by the entrance of two people- the boy and the man in the funny hat, and bronev and the man began arguing. anne-marie was tugging at her arm, telling the golem they had to leave now, but they were rooted to the ground.

“stop it…” they said quietly. 

they didn’t stop fighting.

“stop it,” they said again, louder this time. 

still, they did not stop.

“stop it!” they shouted, and lights shattered and machines beeped- and for the second time, the golem passed out.

when again they awoke, they were slung over the should of anne-marie, who was running through the ship to the side door. 

“good, you’re awake,” she said, setting the golem down. “can you run?”

the golem nodded, and the two set off. “what about the boy and the man with the hat?” 

“we don’t know if we can trust them! but they must have some sort of plane if they boarded mid flight,” anne-marie said as the door came into view.

“but they were with that man- your...father,” the golem said, repeating the unfamiliar word. 

that made anne-marie pause. then, she opened the door, the look on her face hard and unmoved. “they’ll just have to fend for themselves.”

both of them saw the red ship that followed the airship, but the only way off the airship was a long piece of rope. 

“are you ready?” anne-marie said, climbing over the railing. the golem nodded. after anne-marie slid down the rope, the golem grabbed the rope in both hands and followed her. the rope burned the golem’s hands as they slid down. 

once anne-marie and the golem were face to face, she said, “now, on the count of three, we’re gonna jump into one of the trees- hopefully they’ll break our fall.” 

anne-marie held out her hand for the golem to hold, and began counting.

“one.”

breathe in.

“two.”

breathe out.

“three!” 

and let yourself fall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a long awaited reunion between father and daughter gets delayed just a little bit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapters will switch between aurora and anne-marie's point of view!

anne-marie fell right on the gun she stolen and shoved in the back of her pants, groaning as she fell. she quickly grabbed it, pulling it out so she could lay flat for a few moments before getting up. she walked over the strange girl that her grandfather had seemingly kidnapped, only to see the girl sitting up, with her eyes glazed over.

“hey, are you okay?” anne-marie asked, hoping that the girl hadn’t hit her head or hurt herself in any other way. she still had to bring anne-marie back to the cave where she saw her dad. 

the girl didn’t respond, but instead stood up, and without so much as looking at anne-marie, she took off sprinting. 

it took anne-marie only a few seconds to react, but thanks to years of training in targent, she was used to having to make decisions a moment’s notice. she took off sprinting, and easily started gaining ground. less than a minute had gone by before anne-marie had caught up to the girl, and grabbed her wrist. she pulled the girl back and wrapped her other arm around her waist, picking her up so her feet didn’t touch the ground.

“let me go!” the girl shrieked, elbowing anne-marie in the chest. she winced, but only tightened her grip.

“you said you would take me to find my dad! you promised me!” anne-marie shouted back, desperation clear in her voice. 

“i will, i just have to go there! there’s something i have to do!” 

“go where? who are you any-”

“unhand that young woman this instant!” came a voice from behind the two girls. the same man from the airship and his sidekick ran to catch up to them, and anne-marie sighed.

“it’s not what it looks like, i swear,” anne-marie said. “she promised to help me find my father, but when we escaped, she took off running. i just need her to take me to my dad, then she’s free to go.” 

when anne-marie processed what she had just said, she dropped the girl. shock was written all over anne-marie’s face, and she stepped back. 

“no, this is what grandfather would do. i’m not like him, i won’t be like him!” 

god, this is exactly what bronev would have done. using people to get what she wanted, disregarding their own wishes- had her grandfather actually succeeded in turning her into a targent agent after all?

the man put a hand on her shoulder as the boy in blue helped up the girl. “why don’t you tell me your name? you mentioned you were looking for your father?”

anne-marie nodded. “yeah, it’s...it’s anne-marie sycamore. my dad’s name is desmond sycamore. she mentioned you were with him, when she saw him last?” 

the man looked surprised, but it was the boy who spoke up first. “you’re professor sycamore’s daughter? he’s never mentioned you before.” 

the man opened his mouth to say something, but anne-marie beat him to it. “well, if your daughter was kidnapped by a terrorist organization, would you tell everyone you meet?”

the boy actually considered it. “no, i suppose not. i’m luke triton, the professor’s apprentice, by the way.”

anne-marie furrowed her brow. “you’re my father’s apprentice?”

the man laughed, shaking his head. “no, he means me. i’m professor hershel layton. luke is my apprentice. and yes, we were with your father when we found...my goodness, i don’t believe i know your name,” he said, turning to the girl. “what is your name?”

the girl seemed to think for a moment. “it’s aurora, i think.”

“well, now that we’re all introduced, let’s go into town and meet up with the others- that includes your father, anne-marie. they should be by the lake,” professor layton said. 

anne-marie nodded, and then took off her hat and jacket, revealing a black long sleeved shirt. she’d have to deal with her pants and boots later- right now, the end was in sight. she couldn’t fully process it just yet- she was going to see her father again- because if she did, she might cry. 

aurora, however, perked up at the word “lake” and took off running again. luke, who had been standing next to her seemed at a loss, piping up, “h-hey! what are you running for?” 

anne-marie looked at the professor and said, “one of you two go get my dad, and the other help me catch aurora.”

then she took off running again, not bothering to see if one of them was following her. aurora had more of a head start, and as they ran into the town, there were more obstacles that put distance between aurora and anne-marie. 

through the fish market, the town square, and even to the docks, anne-marie chased after aurora. only when aurora began to walk on water did anne-marie pause. she heard the professor run up behind her when she finally realized how aurora was doing it.

“there are chunks of ice in the water,” layton said, and anne-marie nodded.

seeing a chunk of ice bobbing around, she jumped onto it, looking ahead and charting her course. “be careful,” she called. “it’s not very steady.”

“you know, this reminds me of a puzzle,” the professor said, trying to keep up. 

“no offense, but i really don’t care right now,” anne-marie replied. the professor didn’t speak for the rest of their journey across the lake.

anne-marie jumped from ice chunk to ice chunk, slowly crossing the lake. she nearly fell into the water a few times, and her boots were soaked by the time she reached aurora. aurora just stood on the ice as anne-marie struggled to gain her footing.

“now, will you please tell me what is out here, in the middle of a frozen lake?” anne-marie said as the professor stopped on an ice chunk next to aurora’s. the girl didn’t respond, muttering something in a language anne-marie didn’t understand, and then the water started moving. layton nearly fell into the water, and anne-marie did fall into the water. the professor’s hat fell into the water as well, causing him to cry out. he was torn between helping anne-marie and retrieving his hat.

the water was freezing, and anne-marie’s patience had been tested for the last time that day. 

_“are you fucking kidding me?”_ she screeched, but she swam towards the hat as it floated out of layton’s reach. she grabbed the soggy top hat and swam back to layton, who helped her back onto the ice with an apologetic smile. shivering, anne-marie wished she’d hadn’t been so quick to discard the targent uniform jacket.

“i’m terribly sorry, but that hat has great emotional significance-” layton started before anne-marie cut him off.

“look, you can tell me all the puzzles and stories you want after we figure out what’s up with aurora. until then, can you please just focus on that?” anne-marie said, turning to the drained out area of the lake. 

it was undeniably azran, that much anne-marie could tell just by the look of the odd, gold colored building. anne-marie felt like screaming.

“of course it’s fucking azran,” she muttered, and jumped from her chunk of ice down onto the stone walkway. aurora was nowhere to be seen, and there was no way to go but forward, so anne-marie entered the azran structure. 

it was an egg shaped building with a single walkway into the middle of the building, where a stone arch awaited. this is where aurora stood, chanting something as she gave off an ethereal blue glow. her arms were outstretched, as if touching an invisible barrier created by the stone arch. 

anne-marie walked quickly to aurora, intending to stop the girl’s incantations, but before she reached her, a familiar voice called out.

 _“annie!”_

fuck. she hadn’t heard that voice in years. 

suddenly she was ten years old again and her father was coming home from another expedition. 

suddenly she was home again. 

the speaker’s voice had cracked, words full of emotions. she could tell he was about to cry.

anne-marie was already crying. 

she turned around to see her father- her father!- running up to her. tears clouded her vision but she could see that her father had barely changed before he engulfed her in a hug. she immediately wrapped her arms around him, holding onto her father like he was going to be ripped away again at any moment. 

she laughed into his shoulder before saying, “you still wear those ugly glasses?” 

desmond sycamore laughed as well, nodding. “you mother said they were stylish.” 

the cavern was silent, save for aurora’s incantations, which had faded into background noise, as the father and daughter just stood there, as if they thought they would never see each other again. the thought had crossed each of their minds at least once.

and then, the cavern was glowing as symbols appeared on the walls in the azran language. anne-marie turned around, not quite letting go of her father. 

“aurora, how are you doing this?” anne-marie said as the girl seemed to look through her.

“i am the emissary of the azran people, aurora,” she said, the rhythm of her speaking controlled and even. “the time has come for the power of my people to be passed on. our legacy to the world we left behind.” 

one of anne-marie’s arms fell to her side, her fist clenched. she didn’t like the sound of that. 

aurora took another step forward, continuing, “if you wish to know our secrets, and your motives are pure, then all will be revealed. this dome will show the way. find the locations of the azran keys. prove you are worthy of our power.” 

with that, the glow around aurora faded, and she collapsed. anne-marie fully detached herself from her father to catch aurora. the girl groaned as she opened her eyes - they were clear and alert as she stood again with anne-marie’s help.

“are you okay?” she asked aurora. 

aurora looked around, confused. “i-i suppose so? where are we? how did we get here?”

“when we got off the airship, we landed in a forest. after meeting the professor and luke you took off running to this place, and then called yourself the azran emissary. do you remember any of that?” anne-marie asked patiently and quietly.

“i...i remember the forest, i think,” aurora said, “but everything after that is a blur.”

“perhaps her role as a messenger only works on a subconscious level,” she could hear layton saying to her father. 

as the two men spoke, anne-marie looked around the room at both the dome and the people in it. luke and a woman in yellow stood by the entrance to the dome, and anne-marie was about to turn to her father when her blood ran cold.

she _knew_ that woman. 

running on instinct, she pushed aurora behind her and pulled out the stolen gun, pointing it directly at emmy altava, one of her grandfather’s best agents.

“what the fuck is she doing here?!” anne-marie shouted, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

everything stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, you can hit me up @lightningrooks on twitter or on tumblr! please tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which anne-marie continues to scare her father half to death.

everything seemed to start at once after anne-marie had pointed her weapon at the woman in yellow. suddenly, everyone was shouting or moving, some doing both, like the boy in blue - luke, aurora remembered. 

he ran to stand in front of the woman in yellow, even though he wasn’t tall enough to reach where anne-marie was aiming.

layton, luke, and anne-marie’s father all asked the same question, but at different times and in different tones.

“what are you doing?” luke demanded, anger written on his face. 

“what are you doing?” professor sycamore asked, reaching out to his daughter, fear plain on his features. 

“what are you doing?” hershel layton asked, his voice stern and face unreadable.

the woman in yellow seemed to have a delayed reaction. she seemed to be glaring at anne-marie before remembering...something, and she gasped, seemingly afraid.

if aurora knew the words for what they were feeling, they would say they felt sick to their stomach. anne-marie had pushed them behind her, and now aurora put their hand on her shoulder. they thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best question to ask.

the fact that anne-marie was trembling didn’t go unnoticed.

“why are you doing this?” aurora asked, voice as calm as anne-marie’s had been earlier. “do you know her?”

“she’s- she’s one of them! she’s with targent!” anne-marie said desperately. this silenced everyone immediately. everyone, that is, except for the woman in yellow.

“me? with targent? that’s ridiculous!” she said, and the boy in blue nodded.

“yeah! emmy’s not one of the bad guys!” luke said. 

“are you certain you have the right woman?” layton asked, in a calm voice, clearly trying to defuse the situation.

“of course i do! her name is emmy altava, and she’s been a member of targent since she was a child. she’s bronev’s most loyal agent, and extremely good at undercover operations. she can kick anyone’s ass in hand to hand combat, and she’s a pilot as well,” anne-marie said, getting calmer as she spoke. she lifted one hand off the gun to gesture as she spoke, and her whole body relaxed just a fraction.

professor sycamore spoke next. “that does indeed sound like emmy…”

“what do you say to these accusations, emmy?” professor layton said, turning from anne-marie to emmy.

“this is ridiculous! and why are we even listening to her anyway! wasn’t she a member of targent too?” emmy said and the professor closed his eyes.

“you said ‘too,’ emmy. that would imply that anne-marie is telling the truth, and you are, indeed, working for targent. please, emmy, tell me she’s wrong,” hershel layton said.

but rather than answer him, emmy altava sprinted out of the dome.

anne-marie wasn’t prepared for it, and fired far too late and with very little aiming. she missed. 

everyone was relieved, including anne-marie. the dome was silent until luke spoke up. 

“there’s...there’s got to be some sort of mistake,” he said quietly, looking at professor layton. “emmy’s not a bad person, right professor?”

“she’s not so bad, as far as targent agents go,” anne-marie said, looking at the gun in her hand before dropping it into the bottom of the dome. “what she does isn’t out of delusions of grandeur, but out of personal loyalty to bronev. she calls him ‘uncle bronev’- i think he raised her or something.”

“did you know her well, anne-marie?” the professor asked, and anne-marie nodded.

“yeah. she was my s.o.- supervising officer. taught me how to fight, how to drive,” anne-marie said, shrugging. “but at the end of the day, she’s still a targent agent.” 

“what do we do now?” luke asked. desmond and anne-marie answered at the same time.

“we should decipher these markings on the wall,” desmond said.

“we should blow this place up,” anne-marie replied.

the father and daughter looked at each other, each stunned by the other’s response. 

“good heavens, why would we blow this up? it’s an important piece in understanding the azran puzzle!” professor layton said.

“because it’s dangerous! every time people get involved with the azran, horrible things happen! and if we leave this be, with emmy running back to bronev and telling him exactly where we are, targent will have this place under their control in 2 hours. that’s what’s happened to all the other sites!” anne-marie said. 

aurora had been silent for a while, but now they finally spoke up. “i think... i think i could flood this place again, when we’re done.”

anne-marie ran her hand through her hair, loosening the bun. “that’d only delay them, not stop them. they’d have to wait for scuba gear but that wouldn’t deter them.”

she tapped her foot on the ground, clearly lost in thought. then, she looked up. “i can make a bomb with what they have in town. give me half an hour to get the materials, and another fifteen minutes to put it together.”

“we can’t just destroy it!” layton insisted.

“we can’t let targent have it either!” anne-marie shot back. “they are going to use whatever the azran legacy is to do terrible things. it’s not like they’d use it for the good of all mankind- they shut off the golden garden in misthallery from the public!” 

professor sycamore put his hand on hershel’s shoulder. “on this, i agree with annie. targent is too close by to leave this be. annie, we’ll stay here and work. you go do...whatever it is you have to do.” 

anne-marie nodded, and ran out of the dome, leaving aurora, luke, and the two professors. the professors began discussing the markings on the walls as aurora read them. they weren’t sure how they knew how to read, if they could remember little else, but aurora wouldn’t question it.

“there’s a story on these walls, about the riders of the sky. would you...would you like me to read it?” aurora asked. 

the next half hour was spent decoding the story and dividing the markings on the ceiling. aurora barely noticed anne-marie’s return, and only after they finished writing down the locations did aurora notice that anne-marie was done creating her bomb.

“are you all done?” anne-marie said, walking up to the four of them. the two professors jumped, not noticing anne-marie’s approach, and then both nodded. 

“yes, we’ve written down the coordinates of each of the azran keys’ location,” professor sycamore said, showing his daughter the list.

anne-marie looked confused, and then shook her head. “nevermind, we can talk about this later. i need everyone to get out of here so i can set this up.” 

“what about you?” sycamore asked, placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder, radiating concern.

she looked startled, like she hadn’t expected someone to ask about her, and then relaxed into a grin. “there’s a timer, dad. it’ll go off after five minutes- that’s more than enough time for me to get out of here.”

her father seemed unsure, turning to look back at the path out of the azran ruins. “annie, are you sure?” 

very, very quietly- so quietly, in fact, that aurora almost didn’t hear it, anne-marie replied while looking firmly at the ground, “dad, i’m not a kid anymore.” 

the professor looked as if he had been struck, and then he nodded, his face still pained. “no,” he whispered back. “i suppose you aren’t.”

“it’ll be cold, though,” aurora said suddenly. everyone turned to look at them, and they explained. “if she sets off an explosion that destroys this place, and i flood it again, the ice around this area will be destroyed. you all will be on the dock by then, but we’ll have to swim a little ways. it will be cold.”

“we?” anne-marie said, furrowing her brow and crossing her arms. “can’t you flood this place from a distance?” 

aurora shook their head. “no.” 

“well, shit.” 

“language,” desmond said, as if by instinct. again, anne-marie looked at her father, startled. this time, however, she didn’t resist. 

“sorry.”

the group went about preparing the dome for it’s destruction. professor layton was the one to figure out where to place the bomb to cause the structure to collapse, and before anyone could object, anne-marie climbed down into the bottom of the dome and positioned the bomb.

“alright, i need everyone to clear out. once aurora gives me the all clear, i’ll start the timer, and aurora and i’ll get out of here,” anne-marie said, calling up to the others. 

“anne-marie, how are you going to get up here in time?” desmond shouted, clearly alarmed by his daughter’s plan.

anne-marie looked at the wall she had so easily scaled down. “i can make it up there in about two minutes, tops.” 

her father was not convinced. “annie, are you sure about this? i don’t like this at all.”

anne-marie huffed, and aurora could tell she was getting impatient. “dad, we don’t have time for this! i know you’re scared, but i really need you trust me right now.”

desmond looked again as if he had been struck, and although aurora was new to this confusing world of human emotion, she could tell that the look on his face was one of resignation. he nodded, once, and layton put his hand on desmond’s shoulder, as if to comfort him.

“alright. alright,” desmond said. “what do you need us to do?”

“get back to the docks, and wait for us. maybe find some blankets? like aurora said, the water is going to be freezing,” anne-marie said. 

slowly, everyone but aurora and anne-marie left the ancient dome. aurora stood in the opening for a good three minutes, before they turned around and walked to the spot on the walkway that was above anne-marie.

“are you certain that this will work?” they asked, wondering if anne-marie had simply been trying to put her father’s fears to rest earlier.

anne-marie nodded. “dad doesn’t know, but they trained me to be a fully fledged targent agent. i can do things like climb rock walls, or fly airships, or…”

“or create bombs?” aurora finished, no hint of malice in their voice.

“yeah,” anne-marie said, sighing. “alright, let’s fire this up.”

all anne-marie had to do was flip a switch, and then she broke into a sprint towards the wall. she moved up the wall with a speed and surety that aurora had not seen before, and was likely to never see again.

anne-marie had climbed up the section of wall next to the opening, and so as soon as aurora could reach her, they grabbed anne-marie and helped pull her up. 

“flood it!” anne-marie said. “now!”

letting go of anne-marie, aurora reached out and began chanting. their body glowed with power, and suddenly the two of them could hear water rushing in. 

anne-marie grabbed aurora’s arm roughly and dragged them along as she ran out of the ruins, and when they reached an old, rotting staircase, anne-marie took them two at a time. the water was pouring in from all sides, and it quickly swept them up. the raging water ripped aurora from anne-marie’s grip and pushed around their body around like ragdoll. 

when aurora finally found their way to the surface, they found themself breathing easily, something they knew was not normal. 

aurora simply floated there, thinking on this, when she heard a loud thump.

thump. thump thump thump. thump.

aurora swam in a circle, searching for the source of the sound, and found it underwater. 

anne-marie was trapped under a sheet of ice.

aurora swam over with a frantic energy. they had to save anne-marie! she...she had just found her father! there was so much she had left to do!

aurora swam under the block of ice; anne-marie had stopped beating at it. well, anne-marie had stopped doing anything- this terrified aurora. they pushed up, bashing their head up into the ice. it didn’t hurt. they held onto anne-marie with one arm and pushed up with another, beating into the ice over and over.

suddenly the ice was lifting up, and then shifting slightly, enough for aurora to push anne-marie up above water. Then four hands seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and lifted the girl up into a rowboat. 

aurora blinked, adjusting their eyes to the brightness, and saw both professors. professor layton reached out to them and helped them into the boat, while professor sycamore was pushing down on anne-marie’s chest in sharp, almost rhythmic movements. 

professor sycamore was shaking all over, and was rambling, seemingly pleading with the unconscious anne-marie, begging her not to go.

after about twenty or so more motions, anne-marie spit up the water, coughing. her eyes opened and she breathed in, color returning to her face already. her father rushed to embrace her, but she pushed him away, and leaned over the side of the boat. aurora had never seen someone throw up, but from the sounds and the smell, she could surmise that it wasn’t pleasant. when at last she was done, anne-marie leaned against the boat, breathing heavily. 

professor sycamore handed his daughter a handkerchief, which she gratefully took and wiped her mouth with. when she was done, she stuffed the soiled cloth into her pocket. the four of them in the boat were silent for a moment, before professor sycamore spoke up.

“anne-marie rose sycamore, you are grounded for the rest of your life, for scaring your father half to death,” he said slowly. 

anne-marie laughed at this, the sound full of relief and joy.

**Author's Note:**

> when will my chapters be longer than 1000 words? the answer is never  
> well i hope you liked it! tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, etc. you can reach me @lightningrooks on twitter or on tumblr with the same url.


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